Lost Dogs
by Oloranya
Summary: I've yet to meet a man who could tame me, Prince Sesshoumaru," Akima returned. Rated R for future chapters. I really suck at summaries...
1. Default Chapter

**Lost Dogs**

An "Inuyasha" Fanfiction by

_Nicole G._

_Authors Note: I'm not one to cling to the canon of a series as if it were a security blanket when writing my fics. I relish in creating original characters and seeing what I can do with them to mess with those of canon. If you can't handle some severe canon mauling, stop reading now. This fic focuses on an OC named Akima, and Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha and the others may make an appearance, but I doubt it, because most of the fic takes place before Inuyasha is even born. They'll be in the sequel I'm planning though._

_Also, I'm warning you now that I sometimes write rather short chapters. For example, this chapter's about 1 and 1/2 MSWorks pages long, while chapter two is four, and chapter three is only about 1 and 1/4 pages. it fluctuates. There'll probably be a few really long chapters, seperated out by shorter ones. Basically, when the setting/scene changes, I start a new chapter._

_Ah, and I didn't know Sesshoumaru's fathers name. I've seen several different ones used in fanfics. I used the one that seems to occur most often. InuTaisho._

**Chapter One: Perpetually Unnerving**

The warm, salty sea air tickled Akima's sensitive nose and blew her shoulder length, red-brown hair in a wild veil around her head as she stood upon the lonely cliff, staring out over the see at the mainland in the distance. She knew to whom those lands belonged, her father was a close friend of the Lord of the Western lands, InuTaisho, but she had never visited them. In fact, Akima had never left the Isle of the Moon. Most of her pack hadn't. They were a strange breed, the inu youkai of the isle, and did not blend well on the mainland as other inu did. They were of a more wild breed, more closely related to wolves or coyote than most of them would care to admit than other inu were. Having been isolated on the Isle for so many centuries, they had grown physically different from their cousins on mainland Japan. Smaller, yet swifter, they were more suited to guerilla-type warfare and spy operations than the all-out battles that their larger cousins engaged in, but they were no weaklings. Akima, though, was strange even amongst the inu of the Isle. Her mothers coyote blood left her with abilities no other inu possessed.

Coyotes are tricksters by nature you see. For one, they have three "natural" forms. There is the human one, which many prefer, the "natural" form akin to those of inu, and a second "natural" form wherein they look not like youkai at all, but regular coyotes. This third form was by far the most useful, for in it they not only lacked demonic appearance, but their demonic auras were nearly invisible to all but the most powerful youkai. In addition, unlike other youkai, the transition from one form to another was almost instantaneous. If you blink, you miss it.

Of course, Coyote have their weaknesses as well. Despite their swiftness and adaptability, they are not as large as inu in their comparable natural forms, nor are they as numerous. Coyote have a nasty habit of shunning other creatures and going off on their own. As a result, their numbers are steadily dwindling, and any power they might have once had has vanished. It is no longer unusual for them to take inu, or more commonly wolves, as mates, if they mate at all, and their bloodlines have become so thin and muddled with other canine breeds so as to be almost unrecognizable.

Akima's mother was one of those rare, pure-blooded coyote youkai, so Akima's coyote blood is just as strong, if not stronger, than her inu half. None of her uniquely coyote abilities were lost, yet she has the strength of an inu.

"Akima," the familiar voice of her father pulled her from her reverie, and Akima turned her pale, blue-grey eyes towards him, but remained silent. He had a worried look on his face, as if he would like to be anywhere but where he was at that very moment. She turned her face back towards the sea, but watched him out of the corner of her eye, waiting for him to speak.

"It is becoming clear to me, that any hopes I may have held for producing a male heir are futile," he began. Akima's breath caught in her throat. _Here it comes, _she thought. _The whole courts been talking about fixing me up with someone, and now one of his mainland allies or somebody has come forward with son…_

"Tsume-"

"No," Akima said firmly before he could even continue. She knew where this was going. Tsume was a high-ranking inu under her father, and she knew he'd had his eye on her for some time, but she wanted nothing to do with him.

"Tsume approached me and asked about mating with you..."

"I said no," Akima snapped, refusing to look at him.

"Akima, be reasonable. Tsume is strong. He-"

"No," she reiterated.

"Why not?"

"Because I 'm not going to mate with someone I can't even stand to be in the same room with. Tsume cannot be trusted. He's a vile, spineless-"

"That is _enough_," her father snapped. "Akima, I'm trying to be reasonable with you. You're a very... indepentent... woman and I understand that, but the time has come for you to settle down with someone. If you cannot find someone yourself, I have no choice but to find someone for you. If I'm killed, I need to know that you'll be taken care of."

She turned to face her father then, and there was a coldness in her gaze he had never seen before.

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself," she said quietly. "As you well know. Is this you talking, or your advisors?"

He was silent for a moment, not sure of how to respond. Akima just stared icily back at him, unblinking.

"My advisors are just that, Akima. Advisors. I take their suggestions into account, but in the end I make my own decisions. I know you are strong Akima, believe me I do. But no matter how capable you or I know you are to rule, no one else does. You do not have their confidence, and that is just as important as any skill in battle or diplomacy."

"Because Tsume is so much more likable," Akima spat.

"He is-"

"Exactly. _He's_ a male, and that's all that matters, right? So long as it's male, you don't care who I'm with." She bowed slightly and excused herself then, vanishing into the palace, leaving her father standing alone on the cliff to decide how to deal with his headstrong daughter.

_A/N: FYI, Sesshoumaru shows up for the first time in chapter six._

_Next Chapter: We meet Sessh's mother and father, and Akima gets into a shouting match over her dislke of Tsume_


	2. Undone

**Lost Dogs**

An "Inuyasha" Fanfiction by

_Nicole G._

**Chapter Two: Undone **

Akima's father did not speak to her of Tsume's request for several days after the conversation on the cliff. It was not until five days later that she was faced with the issue again. Her father was holding a banquet for matters of diplomacy, and most of the nobles from the mainland were to be attending. Tsume would be present, and Akima would finally get to meet her father's old friend, InuTaisho.

Akima spent most of the day away from the palace until the time came for her to retire to her room and ready herself for the all-to formal banquet. In fact, she had spent most of the last five days avoiding her father. She didn't want to rehash the conversation they had had on the cliff until she could find a way to convince him of what a vile creature Tsume was.

So, she returned to the palace that evening as late as she could get away with, and went straight up to her room to change. An elegant black kimono with red and gold trimmings had been laid out for her. Akima dressed hurriedly, throwing her hair up loosely with a black comb at the last minute as she hurried out into open-air courtyard in front to greet their guests with her father and adoptive mother.

"Cutting it a little close, aren't we, Akima," her father said to her as she came hurrying through the door into the open-air courtyard where he and his mate were standing.

"Made it in time though, didn't I?" She asked with a quasi-sweet tone in her voice. Her father said nothing and she took her place off to one side of him.

Akima grew bored very quickly as the guests trickled in. None of them acknowledged her much, if at all. Most barely even glanced at her when her father introduced her before moving on into the palace proper. About halfway through, Akima's adoptive mother, Izaya, excused herself to go inside and play hostess to the guests that had already arrived and Akima was left alone with her father. She stood with him, mostly silent, playing the part of the dutiful daughter, but refusing to speak to him any more than was necessary.

"Ah, Taisho," he said as a tall, white-haired youkai entered through the doors with a very pretty female, also white haired, at his side. The youkai Lord smiled at her father and they embraced briefly when he reached them. "Welcome, old friend," her father said. "It has been far too long. If I may introduce my eldest daughter, Akima."

Akima bowed slightly in greeting, saying his name quietly.

He nodded in return and spoke her name. Then gestured to the woman by his side. "My mate, Inari."

The woman greeted Akima's father just as Akima had InuTaisho.

"We are expecting our first pup any day now," InuTaisho added.

Akima smiled. "Congratulations," she said politely. Inari was very, very pregnant and looked about ready to give birth any minute.

"So, still no son, Keiji?" InuTaisho asked her father half-jokingly.

"Four daughters," Her father said. "And not a one of them looks anything like me."

"Maybe that's a good thing," InuTaisho joked. Akima let out a small murmur of laughter and caught Inari's gaze for a moment. The older woman was smiling politely, but Akima could see amusement in her dark eyes.

"Akima, why don't you take InuTaisho and his mate inside and introduce him to Izaya," Akima's father suggested. Akima nodded and gestured for the demon Lord and Lady to follow her.

"Izaya is your mother?" Inari asked.

Akima shook her head. "My mother died in childbirth. Izaya is my fathers mate and my half-sisters' mother," she explained.

"That's odd," Inari mused, turning to her mate. "You don't often hear of Inu taking second mates after the death of the first, do you?"

"He was trying for a male heir," Akima said. "That plan hasn't worked out very well though," she added with a smile.

"Then you're heir to his lands?" the elder woman inquired.

Akima nodded. "Yes," she said. "Though I'm sure he'll arrange something eventually…" she trailed off, scanning the room for Izaya. She spotted her on the other side of the room and tried to catch her eye. When she did, she signaled her to join them and introduced her to InuTaisho and Inari. The two elder women hit it off well and began chatting amicably, leaving InuTaisho and Akima standing alone in silence. Akima tilted her head as the woman wandered off, Izaya wanted to show Inari some odd plant in the garden she loved so much or some such nonsense.

"I don't get it…" Akima muttered.

"Don't get what?" InuTaisho asked. She hadn't realized she had spoken out loud.

"Oh. Nothing," she said quickly. "Just thinking out loud."

InuTaisho nodded, but she could tell he didn't believe it was nothing. In truth, Akima had been wondering how the two women who had just wandered off together could possibly be happy having had their entire lives planned out for them by their fathers. It didn't make sense to her.

"So, Lord InuTaisho, do you think you'll be having a son or a daughter?" Akima asked, attempting to make small talk. It was better than standing there in silence.

"Well, _she's_ convinced it will be a boy. How she can be so sure, I have no idea, but she is."

"Izaya knew all three of my sisters were girls before they were born," Akima replied. "Must be an inu thing, because my mother was convinced I was a boy before my birth." Akima winced inwardly as soon as she realized what she had said. Her coyote blood was not something she liked to broadcast to people. It wasn't like it was a big secret, but she still liked to avoid the topic.

"Your mother was a coyote, wasn't she?" InuTaisho asked.

Akima nodded. How had he known? _Of course he knows, you dolt, _she thought, realizing her mistake. _He's your father's oldest friend, why wouldn't he know who his first mate was?_

"Lord InuTaisho," Akima turned to see Tsume bow low before the demon Lord in greeting and her heart dropped. "If I may steal princess Akima away from you for a moment, I need to have a word with her."

"I have nothing to say to you Tsume," Akima broke in before InuTaisho could reply. Tsume smiled. It was a smile that would fool most into thinking him a perfect gentleman, but Akima knew better.

"Now, now, Akima. Please. Just a moment of your time. I trust your father spoke to you about-"

"Yes, and I told him the same thing I'm telling you now. No. Not in a million years."

"Lord InuTaisho, perhaps you could be of assistance?" Tsume said to the demon Lord. InuTaisho raised an eyebrow but said nothing, prompting Tsume to elaborate by his silence. "Akima seems to think an arranged mating is something to be scorned, feared even. Correct me if I'm wrong, but your mating was arranged with your mate's father from the south, and the two of you are quite happy, it would seem. Perhaps you could explain to Akima that an arranged mating is nothing to be feared?"

"You're courting the princess, Tsume?" InuTaisho asked.

Tsume nodded. "I have been pursuing her for quite some time. She is quite beautiful, and a strong demoness. But I fear the same strength that draws me to her also makes her afraid of tying herself down, so to speak. She is quite the free spirit, you see. Like her mother."

He was talking as if she wasn't even there, and although Akima was careful to hide her rage, she was fuming inside.

"Her father has been unable to sway her. He tends to favor her, you see. She's the only daughter of his beloved first mate, and he his loathe to fall from her favor. Perhaps if she received some kind advice from a respectable demon Lord whom she is not so close to, her mind could be changed."

"You're deluding yourself if you think anyone's words could change my mind, Tsume," Akima broke in, tired of being all but ignored by the cocky inu.

"The princess does not seem to reciprocate your feelings, Tsume," InuTaisho offered, making an attempt to cool the young womans anger.

"That's one way of putting it," Akima murmured bitterly. InuTaisho looked at her sideways and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Did I say that out loud?" She asked. Both men nodded.

"Well, in that case, let me elaborate. Lord InuTaisho, pardon my brashness, but I would sooner lay down my life this instant than live out the rest of it by the side of this spineless excuse for a demon. He wants nothing from me but my father's lands, and perhaps my body, because his own needs are all he cares for. He attacks first and asks questions later, and he gains pleasure from taking the lives of other creatures, whether they be demon, human, or a deer being hunted for a meal. He lacks any sense of honor that-"

"Akima!" She was silenced by her father's angry voice from behind her and she closed her eyes momentarily, silently chastising herself for letting her emotions get the better of her. "That is enough," her father snapped, coming to stand at between her and Tsume. "Tsume, I apologize for my daughter's harsh words. She has been under a great deal of stress lately and has been acting out as such all too often."

_Bullshit, _Akima thought.

"Lord InuTaisho, please excuse Akima's outburst. She's looking for any excuse she can find to get me to change my mind about her and Tsume."

"I'm not making excuses," she said calmly, having regained a bit of her composure. "You've seen him on the hunt. He enjoys killing. It-"

"Akima, you can't possibly know what he's feeling when-"

"Mother could have. Why's it so hard to think I would have inherited a bit of those abilities?"

"Akima, please go and find Izaya. It's nearly time for dinner," her father said coolly. She could tell he was angry. He had never been very good at hiding what he was really feeling. Transparent as anything, he was.

She only nodded in response before turning on her heal and disappearing out the door, towards the gardens.


	3. AngloSaxxon Soup

**Lost Dogs**

An "Inuyasha" Fanfiction by

_Nicole G._

_Authors Note: Major brownie points to anyone who's figured out the pattern I've got going with chapter titles. In fact, if you figure it out, I'll give you a prize. _

**Chapter Three: Anglo-Saxxon Soup**

Not long after Akima's outburst, she found herself seated in the banquet hall between Izaya and Tsume. Her father was at the head of the table, with Izaya at his right and InuTaisho at his left. Inari was beside him, and across from his mate was Akima. After Akima came Tsume. It was not looking to be a good night. Her father said a few carefully crafted words of welcome to his guests, and dinner was brought out.

While InuTaisho and Akima's father talked diplomacy, their mates chatted about whatever caught their attention. Akima ate in silence, trying to ignore the letcherous glances Tsume kept throwing her way. He was careful not to let anyone else see the way he looked at her, occasionally pushing his pursuit of her aside to speak to whoever else caught his attention.

"... perhaps you should not push her towards him," she heard InuTaisho say to her father. She didn't look towards them, but she did tune her ears in their direction. "She seems to be a very headstrong young woman. You're not going anywhere anytime soon, I suspect. She may just need more time."

"You may be right, InuTaisho," her father said with a sigh. "She's too much of her mother in her. You know coyotes, independent to the end. I don't want to push her too hard as it is. I fear she'd simply up and leave if I did."

"You're young yet. Give her time. Who knows, maybe she'll find someone you approve of all on her own."

She looked at her father out of the corner of her eye. He smiled and said, "you may be on to something. No need to rush, is there? Although... still... maybe your mate could have a word with her. From one female to another. Izaya refuses to try and sway her. Insists I'll only make it worse by pushing to hard but-"

"Akima, please explain to Lord Taiko about the three coyote forms. I don't think he beleives me."

Tsume had inturrupted her eavesdropping and she turned to him, annoyed.

"What?"

"You're half coyote. I was just explaining to him how you can take on a third form, but I don't think he beleives me," Tsume said with a false smile on his face.

"Oh," Akima shook her head to clear it and turned to Lord Taiko, who was sitting on the opposite side of Tsume. She began explaining the form she could take on wherein only the most powerful of demons would be able to tell she was anything but a normal coyote.

"Doesn't your inu blood affect that power though?" he asked, intrigued.

Akima shook her head. _Humor him, _ she thought. _Humor him for a few minutes and then see what father's plotting with InuTaisho and his mate about you._

"Isle Inu are more closely related to coyotes and wolves than the mainland breed due to our isolation, so the powers passed on through my mothers bloodline haven't been lost. Most of them, anyway."

"Which powers weren't passed down?"

"Empathy," she said. "Full-blooded coyote youkai can sense another creatures emotions like an inu can smell them. They can sense emotions so strongly it's almost like they're reading the other creatures mind. In almost all known instances of coyote breeding with other canine youkai though, the empathic abilities have been cancelled out for some reason."

"You'd think they'd simply linger, but be weaker," Taiko commented. Akima nodded in agreement and went back to her food, directing her attentions back to her father and InuTaisho. But they were talking politics again. She made a mental note to find a way to punish Tsume for inturrupting her and continued eating.


End file.
